Question

Write a short note on the Chipko movement.

Answer 1

Hint: It is a movement related to the conservation of forests in India by the local people where the people saved the trees from the peoples of the landlords who were cutting the trees in the forest and many sacrificed their lives.

Complete answer:
The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan began in the 1970s in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh, and went on to all over the world as to future environmental movements. It is a movement related to the conservation of forests. It started with a nonviolent protest in India.
The Chipko movement was initiated by well-known environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna. He is known for coining the Chipko movement slogan ‘ecology is the permanent economy’. It was caused due to a dispute between the local villagers and logging contractors who had been all to cut trees near the village.
The women of the village reached the forest and hugged the trees to prevent the workers from cutting the trees. This leads the contractor to withdraw. Gauri Devi was the first woman host of the Chipko movement. The movement achieved a victory when the government issued a ban on the felling of trees in the Himalayan regions in 1980. The main effect of this movement was that the environment became the major agenda of politics.

Note: The Chipko movement was inspired by the true story of Amrita Devi Bishnoi who refused to let the King’s men cut trees in her village by sacrificing her life. The Chipko movement was based on the concept of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha (nonviolent resistance). It occurred in the Prasanna Khamkar village of Rajasthan in the 1730 AD. During this movement, many sacrificed their lives including around 365 Bishnois to save Khejri trees.